Crumbling like pastries
by Thynerdgurl
Summary: Nickolai, granson of Katniss and Peeta...and Gale and Mia, and his friends Raine Rendar, Johanna's grandaughter, and Jae Odair, Finnick's great grandson, are being shoved into the cruel reality of the world of the games. Can they survive? THIRD STORY IN THE 'Follow in the shadows' TRILOGY.
1. Chapter 1

**An: This is the sequel to "Follow in the shadows" (I Recommend you read that first…it's kind of confusing without having read it) I hope you enjoy!**

**20 years later**

My name is Nickolai Hawthorne, but people call me Nick. I live in district twelve with my mom, Ivy Hawthorne, and dad, Dylan Hawthorne. We live in the victor's village along with, like, everyone else we know. On one side lives the Odairs, My best friend, Jae, lived there with his mom and dad, Echo and Reed. And to my other side lived our other best friend, Raine, with her parents, Kale and Fiona. This is our story.

**. . .**

"Happy birthday buddy!" Jae smacked me on the back pretty hard. It was almost impossible to stay mad at him, with his bronze hair and green eyes, he looked just like the entire line of Odair men.

"Thanks man!" I replied, smiling slightly. Raine stood behind him with a little blue box. She came up to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"Happy sixteenth Nicki." She said, blushing. Her light brown hair was pulled out of her face into a half up do, her chocolate eyes sparkled. She handed me the box and I took it happily.

"Thanks Raine, Thanks Jae." I opened the little box to find a woven bracelet made with blue and green string. I picked it up out of the box and Raine helped me put it on.

"I know they're your favorite colors and we had a weaving day in my class." She explains shyly. Raine was always a shy and quiet girl, the complete opposite of Jae. Jae was loud, obnoxious, cocky and arrogant…then again, if I was as good-looking as him, I'd be too.

"Thanks, I love it Raine!" A faint blush spread across her face. Jae laughed.

"My gift is way better." He scoffed. Raine looked down in shame…until he actually said what it was. "A guy's night at the club!" She looked up at him and smacked his shoulder.

"That's SO not a better gift!" She said. He laughed and looked down at her; he had at least six inches on her.

"Oh come on, a bracelet versus booze and girls!" The legal drinking age here was sixteen, Raine was still fifteen but Jae had been sixteen for a month or two. I laughed as the two bickered, this always happened. "Once you turn sixteen we'll take you with!" that ended the discussion, she sat down and pouted while my parents came in with a cake my uncle Remus probably baked. Remus, Justeen and their daughter, Sophilla, came in. Sophilla was only thirteen.

"Happy birthday bud!" My dad patted my shoulder and I smiled at him. They all sung happy birthday to me. Our grandparents had arrived a few minutes after.

"Hi grandma Katniss, hey grandpa Peeta!" I greeted them. My aunt Hailey and uncle Kyler came soon after, along with their children (Hailey and Joshua's son Foster. Kyler and Beetrik's daughter Raven.). We all had a huge dinner, courtesy of Remus, he ran the Mellark bakery now.

"So many people!" Raine came up beside me when I was scooping food onto my plate, she was looking around nervously and shaking a bit.

"Well, why don't we go outside?" I knew she hated crowds. Her face brightened at the idea. We walked to the backyard and sat in the grass, I let my dark hair sway in front of my face. I closed my eyes to feel the wind whipping around me.

"So, Nicki…" I look over at Raine, she's laying down with her hands crossed over her rib cage. "What would be the best birthday present ever?" she asked, smiling at me.

"I don't know…I really liked the bracelet." I offer, she giggles and shakes her head.

"I mean like…a non-tangible gift." Her face is twisted with many emotions. I shrug; I have no idea what she means by that. "I mean like…a memory." I think she might be going crazy.

"What? How can a memory be a birthday gift?" I laugh and playfully push her elbow; she smiles widely and plays along.

"I don't know, it was a stupid question." She picks a few daisies and begins to weave them together.

"Maybe you just have to get the wording right." She was a smart girl; she just didn't know how to put her thoughts into sentences. She shrugged and we sat in silence until Jae found us. His face was pale and his eyes were glazed over, he looked really freaked out. "Dude, what's wrong?" I asked, getting up to catch him if he fell.

"The games…they're back!" He slumps down in the grass. Raine gives me a panicked look. "They're reinstating the games!" He cries out. I can't move, I feel like someone just kicked me in the chest and knocked all the air out of my lungs.

"B-but they can't!" We all must look like a bunch of teenagers who were sucker-punched in the gut. Jae just nods and Raine catches me as I fall next to him.

"Paylors' dead…the new president…" Comes my mom's shaky voice from a few feet away, my dad looks like he's been crying. Grandma Katniss is clutching her heart.

"When's the reaping?" I'm surprised to hear Raine's voice in the midst of this.

"A week." My dad says, my mom is crying into his shoulder. They'll reap us for sure, they hate our grandparents. Raine is certainly going in, so the question is…Me…or Jae?


	2. Chapter 2

Dahlila Snow

**Dahlila's POV**

"You have GOT to be kidding me?" I shrieked at her. "MOM!" I demanded, stomping my foot.

"This is what's best for you sweetie." She told me in that tone that pissed me off.

"Hiding me away in district twelve it what's best?" I screamed.

"Now, Dahlila, You are in danger and we must keep you safe." She tried to reason, I could tell she as losing patience quickly.

"Keep me safe? Really. Well the easy solution to this is to have dad NOT reinstate the games!" I argued. If my father had only not wanted to be president then I wouldn't be in this mess.

"Dahlila Meraine Snow! You do not speak about your father that way!" she demanded, her face turning red.

"How can I not? You and him are the reason my life sucks!" I yell. Berty comes up behind me and puts her hands on my shoulders, leading me towards the train while I continue to scream profanities at my mother.

**. . .**

I stare blankly out of the window at the passing land. Sitting on a bed that reminds me of my cruel father, and all my other male ancestors.

"Miss Dahlila." Berty says in a small voice from the door. I look over at my nanny. "Dinner is being served." She announces quietly.

"Start without me, I won't be there." I tell her, turning back to the window to see my reflection. I almost cry as I think of why I look the way I do.

My parents had genetically engineered themselves down to the DNA, thus causing me to be a natural walking freak-show. My blood red lips had always contrasted against my paper white skin. My hair had always been so white it appeared blue under certain lights, my eyes had always freaked me out, yellow rimmed with red wasn't normal, even for a Capitolite.

"As you wish Ma'am." And with that Berty leaves the room. I see a fence appear, inside are cattle roaming around.

"Ten, two more to go." I mumble to myself.

**Nickolai POV**

It's been one day since the news was broadcasted that the games would be starting again.

Raine, Jae and I were walking around downtown after school when a train comes barreling in.

"There's the shipment of peacekeepers." Jae spat bitterly. I nodded and stared as a little woman walked out, carrying bags of luggage. After her came a teenage girl, she had pure white skin, bright red lips and her white hair flowed over her shoulders. "Holy damn." Jae breathed as he dropped the cup of coffee he was carrying. I watched as her pale peach dress swished around her legs as she walked.

"Holy damn is an understatement." I gasped, staring at this unforgettable girl.

"Hello. I'm Jae, Jae Odair." Jae walks up to her, that's when I notice her eyes, they're yellow with red on the outsides. "These are my friends, Nickolai and Raine." He says pointing us out. I look to Raine who is staring at the ground, nervously shifting her weight.

"Oh. Hi," her voice reminds me of silk. "I'm Dahlila…Conrow." She says, smiling nervously. "I-I'm new here." She tells us, looking down.

"Well, I could show you around if you don't mind." Jae offered his hand, which she took and followed him into the town center.

"Want to go home?" I asked Raine, who nodded and linked arms with me.

**. . .**

"So, do you think she's pretty?" Raine asks as we lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling.

"What?" I ask, completely confused.

"Dahlila. Do you think she'd pretty?" she clarifies.

"I guess, she is kind of pretty but her eyes freak me out." I tell her.

"Is she…" Raine pauses for a while, playing with a strand of her hair. I prop myself up to look at her. She's biting her lip and avoiding eye-contact. "Prettier than me?" she finally continues.

I'm dumbstruck.

I don't know how to answer. I never knew Raine worried about this kind of thing.

"Raine." I say in a firm voice. "You know that you're a very pretty girl." I tell her, half to cheer her up and half because it's true. Her long eyelashes touch her cheeks when she blinks and her lips are full and pink.

Her lips…

_What? NO! You can't think this way about your best friend! Even if you did fall for her, she'd never reciprocate the feelings!_ My subconscious screams at me, mentally slapping me.

"I don't feel like it." She replies, sitting against the headboard of my bed.

"And why not?" I ask her, scooting closer, so our arms are flush against each other.

"Can you keep a secret Nicki?" she asked nervously, biting her bottom lip. I chuckle and take her hand. Being so close for so long means being all touchy-feely isn't weird.

"Raine, you know I can." I tell her, smirking a bit.

"Well, I like this guy and I don't think he likes me back. I think he likes this other girl…" she trails off; I reach over to wipe a tear from her eye. "And I just feel like he'll never get how I feel about him." She begins sobbing and I pull her into my chest, rubbing circles into her back.

"A guy would be crazy not to like you." I whisper into her hair.

"You think so?" she asks, looking up. Her face is inches from mine, and for the first time around her I find my stomach doing flip-flops. I gulp and nod, not trusting my words.

"Kids! Dinner's ready!" My mom calls from downstairs. I use this as an excuse to untangle myself from Raine and head downstairs.

"Thanks for having me Mrs. Hawthorne." Raine says quietly. I've found that Jae and I are the only ones she isn't shy around.

"It's no problem! We love having you around." My mom smiles kindly and places food on the table in front of us.

"Let's eat." I plead, staring at the hamburgers my dad must have cooked.

**An: Lol, I added the mystery character! Dahlila Snow has been locked in my mind for some time now, she's a complete genetic freak…then again…in my head she was a much bigger bitch…**


	3. Chapter 3

**An: Sorry for this but I'm more than sure that with the sexual tension I'm creating this fic WILL become rated M in the near future…**

**Chapter 3**

My mom decided it was a good idea for Raine to sleep over, seeing as her parents were both in a funk.

"Here." I say, tossing her an old shirt of mine, she smiles and proceeds to pull off her own shirt, I try not to look but it's really hard. I turn around to take off my own shirt and can't help but feel awkward. Why? I had no idea; she'd slept over a million times before. When I turn around I see Raine tugging on the edges of the shirt, willing it to be longer. I chuckle at the sight. She looks up at me and a faint blush covers her pale cheeks, I can't help but notice how her eyes skim over my bare chest. She then yawns, giving me an excuse to turn from her intense stare. "You tired?" I ask. She nods and flops onto my bed, her shirt riding up a bit, giving me a good look at her red boy-shorts, I find myself gulping before climbing under the covers next to her.

* * *

I wake up to warmth wrapped all around me. I still can't pry my eyes open but I can feel skin that isn't mine. When I finally peel my eyes open I see brown hair, Raine's head on my chest. Her bare legs are tangled with mine and my hand is up her shirt, resting on her hip. One of her hands is laying flat on my chest and the other is underneath the pillow. My breathing becomes labored as she stirs, and her hip moves against mine.

"Good morning." She mumbles sleepily, her voice is raspy and hoarse.

"Morning." I manage, realizing my voice is in the same situation as hers. She groans contently and burrows her face farther into my chest. Without my brain telling it to my thumb begins to trace small circles on her hip. She groans again but this time it's something I've never heard from her, her leg clenches around mine. "R-raine?" I choke out, trying to avoid a very awkward situation.

"You make a good pillow." She grumbles into my chest. I laugh nervously and attempt to push her off, but she hangs on tighter. "Just five more minutes Nicki." She whispers. I could never deny Raine of anything, she was my best friend in the world, but this was an exception.

"Nope! Up and at 'um" I say her, sitting up, which caused her head to slide into my lap. "Now is not nap-time. It's 'meet up with Jae' time." I say her, feeling like I'm scolding a child.

"Nicki!" She whines, grabbing an actual pillow and throwing it over her head. "It's too early!" she complains. I look over at the window to see the sun rising.

"It's late enough." I reply.

* * *

"Guys! I didn't think you'd make it!" Jae calls, running up to us in the town square. I see Dalilah following behind him. "Well, let's go." He says, heading towards the school. I hate Mondays.

As we walk toward the school I notice that I have Raine on one side of me and Dalilah on the other.

"So, you're Nickolai…right?" Dalilah asks, I nod, unsure of what to do. "What a cool name." she continues.

"Thanks." I mumble, feeling shy.

"Nick! Don't hog all the chicks!" Jae shouts from in front of us. I chuckle quietly and walk to class, nervous about Dalilah.

**An: sorry it's so damn short! I just got braces and I'm wallowing in miserable pain…now I'm the geeky girl with acne and braces…next thing you know my eyesight will fail on me…**

**AGAIN! SORRY FOR SUCH A SHORT CHAPTER!**


	4. Chapter 4

**An: sorry it's been so long! Classes are killing me! But yeah, you guys have been complaining about the reaping but I must spoil this: when you have connections with the president's daughter, you are untouchable!**

**Chapter 4**

I slide into my seat in class and grab my book from my backpack. Raine and Jae sit on either side of me, as usual. But When Dalilah sits behind me my heart-rate picks up, and not in a good way.

"Alright class." The teacher announces. We may be living in a better world but District 12 is still super poor, which means that we don't have enough money to have a teacher for each subject. Mr. Cotter goes on to talk about the history of Panem and all the hard-ships we've gone through.

"Psst." I hear in my ear. I turn to face Raine and see that she is gazing out the window with a lost expression on her face. "Back here." The voice whispers again. I swivel fully to face Dalilah.

"Yes?" I ask, a bit impatiently. She smiles, showing blindingly white teeth.

"Hey Nick." She replies in a flirtatious voice. I am now aware of Raine staring intently at us.

"Hi?" I say awkwardly. She grins and flips her hair, leaning forward on her desk, giving me a clear shot down her shirt. But my father taught me to be a gentleman, so my eyes stay locked on her eyes, which causes her face to fall a bit. She clears her throat and leans back in her chair.

"Do you know if we'll have any homework tonight?" Her tone is cold and her eyes are hard. I shake my head and shrug before turning back to the teacher. I see Raine stifle a giggle through my peripheral vision. I hope the glaring into the back of my head abates soon; I can't take her being pissed at me.

/

"What's wrong with you?" Jae asks as we're entering 'Mellark's bakery' for lunch after school. I give him a questioning look. "Rejecting Dalilah you dummy!" He punches my arm. Before I can reply a blonde man with friendly grey eyes stands before us.

"Hey guys!" He greets.

"Hey uncle Remus." I reply before going behind the counter to grab four cheese-buns and head to the table with three seats occupied. I sit next to Raine and across from Jae. Everybody grabs a pastry and begins eating happily.

"If you need anything else I'll be in the back!" Remus calls from the counter. I nod in his direction. A familiar face pops over the counter and blushes at the sight of Jae. Her dirty blonde hair has gotten longer and her grey eyes are the same as her father's.

"Hey Sophilla." I said, she grinned and came to sit on one of my legs. At thirteen she still acted like she was seven.

"Hi Nicki…Hi Jae." She peered at him through her bangs. Her crush on him was adorable.

"Hey Sophie." He smiled, using her nick-name. "How's life?" he asks. She shrugs and nods to the counter.

"Mom and dad can't keep their hands off each other." I chuckled at this. Justeen and Remus had always been close…as close as my parents. "Who's that?" she asks me, pointing to Dalilah.

"Oh, that's Dalilah. She's from the Capitol." I explain. Sophilla crinkles her nose and grimaces.

"She looks funny." Sophilla concludes before jumping off my lap and running to the apartment above the bakery.

"Sorry about her." I apologize half-heartedly to Dalilah, whose entire face had turned bright red.

"No, she's right. When I asked to get cosmetic surgery to look normal my parents refused." She admits quietly, ducking her head down.

"I think you look hot."Jae pipes up. Dalilah looks up and grins at him. They fall into an animated conversation. Raine nudges my knee with hers and smiles shyly at me. I reach my hand down to give her knee a gentle squeeze, my stomach flopping at her blush.

/

"What'd you get for number seven?" Raine asks as we do our homework in my room. She's doing that thing she does when she thinks where she puts the tip of her pencil's eraser in her mouth and furrows her brows.

"I got negative nineteen." I reply, looking over my math answers. She glares at me playfully.

"I'm on the English homework smart one. I grin at her cockily.

"I know." She hits my arm, giggling. We joke back and forth about the homework until a knock comes at the door. "Come in." I call, still grinning about Raine's jab about my immature math skills. The door opens and Raine clears her throat, looking back to her homework as Jae and Dalilah enter.

"What's up?" Jae asks, flopping onto my bed.

"Not much, just working on homework." I reply.

"Uh huh." Jae looks at me, unconvinced. "There was an awful lot of giggling for 'just working on homework'." He says, eyebrows wiggling. Raine rolls her eyes and scoffs.

"Whatever man." I tell him, turning back to the history homework. "Hey…any of you know who the current president is?" I ask, quite unsure of the answer.

"His name is Renalous Snow." Dalilah answers in a quiet voice, looking at her feet.

"Thanks." I mumble, writing it down in the empty space.

"No problem." After that the room turns awkwardly quiet. Which I hate, Whenever it's just me and Raine everything fun, light-hearted and even a bit flirty, and when it's just me and Jae it's the same…minus the flirty. But put Jae and Raine together and she closes up while he gets uncharacteristically quiet. Adding Dalilah adds an angry air around Raine, which just makes everything worse.

Eventually they leave and it's just Raine and I again. She closes her book quietly and packs it into her bag.

"Well, I guess I'd better go." She says quietly, almost ruefully.

"I guess." I mumble, not knowing what to say. Before I know it, Raine stands on her toes and places a lingering kiss to my cheek and calmly walks out of the room. Once I hear the front door close I bring my hand to my cheek, mouth still hanging open.

**An: AND SO IT BEGINS! LOL! I have pictures of all three people on my deviant art. My name is Momonster, you may have to dig a tiny bit to find them but it took me a while and Nickolai ended up looking like a dark version of Ross Lynch. :3.**


	5. PLEASE READ!

**Hello my beautiful people! (Ass kisser!) I'm kind of running into a dead-end with this story so if anyone (anyone at all!) is willing to write the next chapter and send it to me for review, I'll gladly take it! Whatdaya know, maybe it'll even jump-start my dead-beat, good-for-nothing imagination ****!**

**This is a chance to decide what happens next! PLEASE HELP ME! I'd really prefer NOT to discontinue this story!**

**-A very desperate Morgan**


	6. Chapter 5

**An: Okay guys, I owe HUGE apologies for my little scare! I did get some EPIC ideas from Flamewhisker! Thank you so much for the boost in confidence and wonderful plot ideas! (If anyone would still like to help with 'broken children' I'd be very grateful!)**

**Chapter 5**

We all sit around the coffee table in my living room.

"You can't do that!" Jae has been accusing Dalilah of cheating at this stupid card game for about five minutes.

"Yes I can! It's a Capitol game, I know the rules!" she tells him smugly, sitting back in her chair. Raine and I have been watching this interaction, my arm slung over the top of the couch, around her.

"Full of ourselves, aren't we?" Jae asks, it's clear how angry he's becoming.

"Well, when I come from such a beautifully exotic place, you can't blame me." She smirks. Raine turns to me and moves to whisper in my ear, causing her front to come flush with my side, which, in turn causes all the blood in my body to rush both up to my face and down…

"When do you think they'll just lunge at each other?" she whispers, I blush at the feeling of her breath on my ear. "Five…" she continues. "Four, Three, Two…" As if on cue the bickering stops. Jae slams his hands on the table and leans over, placing a kiss on Dalilah's lips. "There you go." She resumes her original position as Dalilah kisses him back.

"Don't mind us." I say loudly. Jae and Dalilah break apart with red faces.

"Urm…" Jae stutters. "I've got to go." He stands and practically runs out of the house.

"I-I do to!" Dalilah quickly follows. I turn to Raine to see a playful smirk on her face.

"Well, that didn't take long." She says, getting up and walking over to the television. "What movie do you want to watch?" she asks, holding up a few.

"How about the one about the spy in district nine?" I suggest, completely forgetting the name because of the way she's bent over.

"Spy in the wheat?" she asks, holding up the movie. I nod as she puts it in. She comes over to sit next to me, a bit closer than before, I note with a smirk.

Somewhere during the movie Raine falls asleep, her head resting on my chest with her palm splayed across my stomach.

"Raine." I whisper softly.

"Nick." She mumbles, obviously still asleep. Her sleepy moans grow louder and more breathy. "Nick!" she calls out, writhing against the couch. My eyes nearly pop out of my head as she begins panting.

"Raine." I say, a bit more forcefully. With a jolt she sits up and stares wildly at the wall before sinking back into me with a dreamy look in her eyes. "So," I entertain the idea of teasing her, even though my heart is threatening to pound out of my chest. "What were you dreaming about? It sounded pretty…uh…active." I bite my lip, watching her for a reaction. I get the exact reaction I anticipated, she pulls her bottom lip between her teeth, her face turning bright red.

"Yeah…it-uh-it was…very….active, yeah." She mutters, avoiding eye-contact.

"What happened in it?" I ask, playing this for anything I'll get. "You were moaning and panting…quite a bit." If possible, her face gets redder.

"It…uh…I don't remember." She lies.

"Really?" I challenge. "Because you did say my name a few times." I tell her, pulling her face up with my hand. "And I'm pretty sure you were enjoying it." I add my voice an octave lower and gravelly.

"I-uh….eh…" she stammers before I let go of her face. "It was a good dream, I'll leave it at that." She replies, turning back to the television. I smirk as an idea pops into my head. My hands inch down to her stomach before I attack her with tickling. "NICK!" She squeals loudly, writhing around in my arms. "STOPS!" She giggles, attempting to kick me.

"Not a chance." I chuckle, continuing my assault on her stomach. I stop when I hear giggling from the doorway.

"Having fun?" we look up to see my mother's amused face.

"Eh…heh." I mutter, losing my grip on Raine, who just so happens to be conveniently placed exactly under me. Raine blushes bright red as she wigglesout from under my weight.

"I-uh…I'd better go." She mumbles, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

"Oh, okay." I can't help but feel a tiny bit rejected as she stands.

"Bye, Nick, see you tomorrow." She whispers as I walk her to the door.

"Alright." I tell her, smiling sadly. Before I can decide what to do next I find myself leaning down to place a kiss on her forehead. "See you tomorrow." I conclude.

. . .

As I lay in bed at night I let my mind wander. But no matter where I redirect it, it always lands on the same thing.

Raine.

I just can't get her out of my mind. It's almost as if her face is glued to the inside of my eye-lids. Her wavy reddish-brown hair and her warm chocolate eyes won't leave me alone.

I'm on the edge of driving myself insane with her beauty.

GAH!

I roll over on my side holding my head, squeezing my eyes shut. Why did I feel this way? How could I think these things about my best friend? It was wrong; she'd never return these feelings. I was stupid to even consider it.

I had other girls who would certainly go out with me, but none of them had ever caught my eye. I never dated, she never dated. But that didn't mean she felt the same…did it? NO! No it didn't. It was all I could do not to hit my head against the wall until these stupid teenage hormones went away. They'd be the death of me if I couldn't control these damn emotions.

**An: Alright guys, I'm working on evolving the relationship between Raine and Nick, the next chapter will probably Raine's point of view. Sorry I didn't post this sooner, I kind of got lost in Japanese simulation games...THEY'RE SO ADDICTING!**


	7. Chapter 6

**AU: PLEASE DON'T THROW TOMATOES AT ME! I'M TRULY SORRY!**

**Chapter 6**

**~Raine's POV~**

I can't sleep. Ever since I left Nick's house my mind has been spinning and spiraling. I can't stop thinking about my dream…_the dream_…it almost made me moan out loud to think of it. Not to mention the reaping…it was in two days.

I roll over in bed to stare out the window, I wonder if he's thinking of me. I wonder what he thinks of me. I wonder if he thinks of me at all. Too many thoughts circle my head as I grasp wildly for any hope of sleep. I eventually give up and sit up miserably. Raking my fingers through the knotted mass of dull brown I stare into the darkness of my bedroom. I wouldn't be surprised if he liked some other girl from school, Elaina Ferview likes him. How can I compete with someone like her? Her voluptuous curves and corkscrew blonde curls win hands down over my stick-like shape and seemingly permanent bed head. He deserves someone like Elaina, her parents aren't screaming at the top of their lungs at each other day after day.

Just as that thought pops into my head a loud crash sounds from downstairs.

"YOU IDIOT!" My mom screams.

I throw my head back onto my pillow and choke back a sob. As much as I hate to say it, when push comes to shove I will always stand behind my father. As the screaming escalates I resolve to open my widow and leap to the tree a foot away. As I climb down I can see my mother yelling at my dad through the kitchen window. Neither notices me as I slip through the darkness in the direction of the meadow.

The breeze blows straight through my flannel pajama bottoms and thin cotton t-shirt, making me regret not bringing a coat.

I don't know how long I sit in the grass and stare at the sky but at some point a blanket is placed around my shoulders and a figure sits next to me. I almost immediately give in and rest my head on Nick's shoulder and let the sobs and tears overtake me.

When I wake I'm in Nick's bed with him next to me, breathing evenly. I curl farther into his side.

"Raine?" He questions as his arms snakes around my torso to pull me closer. "You okay?" he asks another question as his free hand brushes hair out of my face. I mutely nod in response.

. . .

**~Nickolai~**

It's been a day since I found Raine shivering and crying in the meadow. My heart drops as I wake up without her by my side. What hurts more is the realization that today is the reaping. I get out of bed to see my best outfit already laid out for me, just the sight of it causes my chest to ache. I hesitantly pull on the white button-up and black slacks.

My mom is crying when I get downstairs. Her face is buried in my father's shoulder as he solemnly strokes her raven hair.

"Ma?" I ask quietly. She turns around and rushes to me to embrace me and continue crying as my father and I share a look. I'm the same height as my dad so her face only reaches my neck. "It'll be okay, mom." I whisper, rubbing her back. I'm not sure if it's proper for the child to console the parent or for the parent to console the child but my family has always been a bit backwards. This seems to pull my mom together as she pulls away and straightens out my shirt, her sobs reduced to snivels.

"You're right." She mutters with a sad smile that never reaches her eyes. "It'll be…okay." She exhales. I hug her once more and receive a pat on the back and a look from my dad before I leave the house.

I catch up with my friends and lose all breath as I see Raine in a soft green dress that hugs her torso and flows freely below her hips. She looks stunning.

" Nicki!" Jae calls, pulling me over to the line. "Dude, they prick our fingers!" he hisses. Jae's always had a problem with blood, especially his own.

The sixteen year old boy section is full of our nervous classmates. I chat with Jae before a very colorful woman walks up to the stage and clears her throat.

"Hello all, my name is Gravia Lolli." She introduces nervously. I tune her out and scan the crowd before catching Raine's glance.

"_She looks like a freak."_ I mouth to her; she appears to stifle a giggle. The clicking of high heels causes my attention to shift back to Gravia. She is making her way to the girl's bowl. My heart thumps loudly against my chest to the point where I can hear blood rushing through my ears. Raine shoots me a panicked glance.

Gravia clears her throat before reading the slip her pink hands had picked out.

"Raine Rendar." My entire world crashes through the ground around me as I stare at her face; her expressions go from shock to panic to resignation. I can barely hear Kale's anguished screams for his daughter. Raine trudges her way up to the stage and hangs her head in dismay. I want to scream, cry, punch someone but I'm frozen where I stand. Gravia makes her way to the boy's bowl and I come to the realization that the bowls are rigged. I come to the conclusion that the bowl had thousands of slips with my name on them. She picks one out and smiles as she reads it. "Jae Odair." Jae squeaks from next to me. This is the first time I've ever seen with this wide of eyes and scared of expressions. He takes his place next to Raine, staring over everyone's heads defiantly with a scowl on his face.

The second people are dismissed I sprint to the visitor rooms and rush into Jae's.

"Jae," I begin. He looks at me sadly.

"I'll let her win." He interrupts.

"What?" I ask, astonished.

"I know how you feel about her." We exchange hugs and goodbyes before my time is up and I rush to Raine's room. She is sitting on a couch, picking at her fingernails. When the doors close behind me she looks up and stands, forming my name on her lips. She never finishes because I rush over to her and grab her face, bringing my lips to hers.


End file.
